Old perfumes (1900-1950) not fitting for younger people?

The age of the perfume makes no difference. There are great Geo F Trumper colognes made in the 1870s that smell great on anyone of any age. Just test the perfume first, never buy blind.

An increasing number of younger people start to appreciate and enjoy e.g. Vintage Tabarome, Knize Ten, several vintage Guerlain and Acqua di Parma fragrance lines

There is no relation between age and fragrance.

There are infinite amount of motives for liking / disliking the type of scents mentioned, and at the same time, tastes are very personal. This means that you will find youngster who love scents designed in the far past, as well as others abhorring them.

On the other hand, the dates you mention might be misleading, for companies work on reformulations, so 1872 might only mean that it was designed in that year, not that it smells the same way it used to.

Now, sociologists have been working on how tastes are formed and their groundings, so you might as well find some social clues or points in common for preferences: this means that you will find different consumption patterns if you analyze preferences by age breaks, geographic location, ethnics, gender, occasions of use, socio-economic background, etc.

So, the answer IMHO would be: "in general, yes, but exceptions apply, so don't fool yourself."

Just wear with confidence and you'll be fine

There are no absolutes. It all comes from you.

Only you wil know if you feel comfortable wearing something. I'm wearing Habit Rouge right now. A classic scent from 1965 that to me isn't "old fashioned." But you put it on and sounds like you got scared someone would think it smelled too old on you.

Sounds like you're asking for an older scent that smells hip and current. Only you can make that call.

I wear/have worn all these,
and they're among the "youngest/freshest" scents in my wardrobe,
all as classic and timeless as when they were new,
no girl has ever commented on them in a negative way,
like alot have done with Vintage Tabarome or Santal Noble:


1792 - 4711 Echt Kolnisch Wasser
1802 - R&G Jean Marie Farina Extra Vieille
1815 - Truefitt & Hill Freshman (although has changed formula since)
1870 - Truefitt & Hill West Indian Limes
1880 - Trumper Extract of West Indian Limes
1935 - Aqua Velva Ice Blue
1947 - Jacques Fath Green Water

And these, while smelling slightly dated at certain parts of their development, still qualitatively sh!t on most modern perfumes, and are plenty fresh/naturally refreshing, to boot:

1856 - Creed Royal Scottish Lavender
1916 - Acqua Di Parma Colonia
1950 - Creed Orange Spice

Most of my favorite creeds are the classics, i just think they are classier and say something in comparison to the new ones of today. Also, because they are so old many do not know or use them which makes you unique if you have them. Do not get me wrong I love virgin island water,millesime imperial and git even though i consider git to be more classic at this point, angel men, pure malt, tobacco vanille, tuscan leather but i feel that the classics have stood the test of time for a reason. Am i the only one who thinks that aqua di parma colonia in the eau de cologne form smells like vintage tabarome?

By and large, most people have no idea when frags were created, it's all about how they smell on a particular person.

At the end of the day, you have to wear what you feel comfortable with. If you feel something smells dated, then it is. Nothing worse than trying to pull off something you're not 100% comfortable with. Wear the scent, don't let the scent wear you...

Age and gender for fragrance is mostly bias and marketing.

My favorite fragrance product of all time was a very viscous oil/gel (for the life of me, I don't know what it was really as it was a sample in a vial) of Chanel No5 and I'm a guy. I loved it. Nordstrom's at Washington Square gave me the sample about a decade ago after we'd made a rather large purchase and somehow it wound up in my bag. Mrs. J. was not allowed to use it. :-)

Certain time periods do have distinct styles. Much like today, perfumers made what sold and made them money. However, tastes at the Turn of the Century were much different and in my opinion much more debonair polished than today. Consequently, manufacturers like AdP, Guerlain, Floris, Pens, and others catered to their market of old world aristocrats and the new money bourgeoisie. Today's mainstreams are unfortunately aimed at the proletariat classes who have more spending power than ever before. Sorry if this sounded like a Marxist social commentary, but that is not what I meant.

I think it was a great question. LoL. Reason being, we enjoy niche fragrances partly due to their individualism. Wouldn't a truly old time fragrance accomplish that as well? Hasn't marketing tweaked the public's bias all out of whack? I think so.

However, please understand my bias: I think Old Spice is the best fragrance of all time and am loathe over it's brand cheapening over time.

We're thinking of getting some Penny-farthing bicycles for some office promotionals and might have to get some Creed Royal English Leather for the kids on the littler bikes to match the event.

Well, okay, I originally just said:

"By and large, most people have no idea when frags were created, it's all about how they smell on a particular person. "

Meaning, don't let others live your life for you, have self confidence, be an individual, and so on. However, I now think your question was more about the appropriateness of frags for all situations and less about social conformation. Now, part of my original idea still holds true, it's about the person and the frag- not the date the frag was built (yes, let's say "built").

With respect to Hammam and Blenheim Bouquets, they are decidedly more classic and refined than a lot of scents. But it is their construction not their age that does this. Even between them, Hammam is (IMHO) more appropriate for day wear/casual wear than Blenheim- not that it is exclusively casual, just more casual than Blenheim. For someone who appreciates classic frags but doesn't want to smell like a white bearded captain of industry from the 1910s, just try them out. English Fern, Castile, and Tricorn (Caswell Massey) are nice examples of more versatile older frags. Endymion, Opus 1870, Racquets Formula, and Quercus are all relatively newer frags that bridge the gap between classic/ refined and contemporary/ hip rather well. They certainly aren't the only ones. Most anything that is not aquatic and/or synthetic candy smelling has potential to be a bridge.

You are probably better off using fougere and Oriental classifications to start exploring frags that suit your sensibilities. Before you know it, you'll have a frag for every occasion.

I tend toward relatively affordable "classics" and more daring orientals. Check out my wardrobe :http://www.basenotes.net/wardrobe/18873